by Chinese League of Legends esports team JD Gaming have announced that ADC Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk will not continue with them in the 2025 season.
The news came out on Sunday, two months after JD Gaming miss out on the LoL World Championship 2024 with a 2-3 loss against Weibo Gaming in the LoL Pro League (LPL) 2024 Regional Finals.
【Farewell Ruler】
“Win or lose, I will always give my all.”
Our heartfelt thanks to @RulereluR for the shared moments of victory, for those golden rains under which we celebrated together. These memories have already found a timeless place in our hearts, treasured forever.… pic.twitter.com/sZE4Ysvkr6
— JDG Esports (@JDGaming) October 27, 2024
Ruler joined JD Gaming in December 2022 after a four-and-a-half-year stay with Gen.G, with whom he reached two consecutive LoL Worlds semifinals in 2021 and 2022.
In his first debut season with JD Gaming, Ruler won the LPL 2023 Spring and Summer splits and the Mid-Season Invitational.
Unfortunately, the 25-year-old superstar failed to complete the elusive Golden Road in 2023, losing to eventual champions T1 in the LoL Worlds semifinals.
Ahead of the 2024 season, JD Gaming rebuilt their LoL lineup around Ruler and jungler Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok, adding top laner Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun, mid laner Zeng “Yagao” Qi, and support Lou “MISSING” Yun-Feng.
However, the new Chinese super team failed to meet the expectations, finishing third in the LPL 2024 Spring Playoffs, seventh-eighth in the LPL 2024 Summer Playoffs, and third in the Regional Finals.
Despite JD Gaming’s lacklustre season, Ruler stood out as one of the top-performing players in the LPL.
He ended the LPL 2024 Summer Placements with the highest 13.1 KDA and five MVPs, then claimed another 10 MVPs in the LPL 2024 Summer regular season — tied with Weibo Gaming’s Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong for the most in the league.
Ruler now enters the free agent market, where he will have no shortage of offers; however, it is unclear where the 25-year-old will continue his quest for a second LoL World Championship title.
A return to Gen.G is unlikely, with Kim “Peyz” Su-hwan proving himself as a crucial member of the LoL Champions Korea (LCK) side.
However, with the 19-year-old’s contract expiring this November, Ruler’s return is not beyond the realms of possibility.
With Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu announcing his retirement from competitive LoL after losing to T1 in the LCK 2024 Regional Finals, Ruler could reunite with his former teammate Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong at KT Rolster.
However, Ruler has previously stated he would only have remained in the Korean league if he could have stayed with Gen.G.
